Russell Cicerone and Justin Hoyte sat on a metal bleacher beneath The Bailey watching their teammates in a shooting drill.

After a dozen shots, Hoyte encouraged them to keep going. Cicerone said they had to during a drill and laughed at the obviousness. Hoyte dropped his jaw jokingly, stunned at Cicerone's audacity to mock him.

The moment was silly but important.

Here was Cicerone, a 23-year-old who's started one league match for Futbol Club Cincinnati, taunting Hoyte, the team's oldest player and a proven English Premier League talent.

Never mind what was said. The significance was the action itself: the young winger feeling comfortable being himself. Recently, that's a trait seen on and off the field.

Two nights earlier, Cicerone scored his first goal for Cincinnati when he headed a Blake Smith cross to the back post, giving the club a 2-1 lead in an eventual 2-2 draw with Bethlehem Steel FC at Nippert Stadium.

"There's no better feeling than scoring a goal," he said Friday. "It was a really special moment."

Playing behind Emmanuel Ledesma, opportunities are limited. His first appearance came as a substitute in the 4-1 extra-time win over Detroit City FC in the U.S. Open Cup. From there, minutes have increased and confidence has grown.

He's started the last three matches for Cincinnati and brings an exciting style to his play: pace with assertiveness to take on defenders every time he possesses the ball.

Against Minnesota United FC in the penalty shootout loss, Cicerone was a bright spot offensively and defensively. After the match, head coach Alan Koch praised the player who made his first appearance at Nippert Stadium.

"Russell stepped up," Koch said at the time. "A young American kid to embrace an opportunity like that where he hasn't really played that many minutes for us, against an MLS team, was great for him. That's something I take out of it as very, very promising."

In a squad laden with depth, Cicerone went from a young reserve into matchday regular in the span of a month.

"I've been doing my job really well, which is running at players, trying to get to the end line, turning in balls, creating chances," he said Wednesday. "I feel like the minutes coach has given me, I've taken them."

But he's still developing.

The confidence might be there, but the precision is still progressing. A young player looking for playing experience, he's a raw talent. If polished, though, he'll provide the same flair and energy on the right wing as Jimmy McLaughlin produces on the left.

A fourth-round pick in the 2017 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, Cicerone played for Portland Timbers 2 last season and scored once in 29 United Soccer League games.

Russ Cicerone experienced the first two days of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft in Los Angeles.(Photo: Submitted)

"Russell is an incredibly talented young player," Koch said in a November press release after the winger joined Cincinnati. "He has the ability to score goals, as he showed in college. He had a tough introduction to professional soccer this season but I believe that this experience has set him up for future success."

To this point in the season, Koch's claim sounds accurate.

Before the Richmond Kickers game Saturday night at Nippert Stadium, Cicerone said his opportunities have made his transition into the starting lineup easier and called FC Cincinnati a "learning environment."

"The whole season is a long process," he said. "You gotta take it each day at a time. The group of guys we have here and the coaches we have here, it's a pretty easy process going from not playing so much to getting minutes and contributing to the team."